Apparatus for delivering folded sheets



H. A. W. WOOD AND A. E. FAY.

APPARATUS FOR DELIVERING FOLDED SHEETS.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 1'], 1913.

1,363,030, Patented Dec. 21,1920.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY A. WISE WOOD, OF NEW YORK. N. Y., AND ALBERT E. FAY, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNORS TO WOOD NEWSPAPER MACHINERY CORPORATION, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF VIRGINIA.

APPARATUS FOR DELIVERING FOLDED SHEETS.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 21, 1920.

Application filed June 17, 1918. Serial No. 240,491.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, HENRY A. \Vrss lV on and ALBERT E. FAY, citizens of the United States, said lVoon residing at the city, county, and State of New York, said FAY in the city of \Vorcester, in the county of lVorcester and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and useful Apparatus for Delivering Folded Sheets, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to the delivery of folded sheets from a folding mechanism, such as that usually employed in connection with a web press and is an improvement over the mechanism disclosed in the patent granted May 21. 1918, No. 1,266,742, to Henry A. Vise Wood, on an apparatus for delivering folded sheets, on an application originally filed June 16, 1913, Serial No. 773.918.

In that patent the folded sheets as they came from the folding rolls were given an initial curvature all the way across the sheet and were never allowed to get into a flat condition from that time until they were received by the delivery fan and in factdelivered from it, but in order to accomplish that result, according to the specific embodiment of the invention disclosed, the sheets were first curved in one way, as for example, in a concave manner and the curve was then reversed to the convex shape without allowing the sheets to get into a flat condition. This prevented longitudinal crum pling. because the sheets cannot be bent in two directions at the same time, and eliminated the buckling of the sheets which is especially desirable at the high speeds now being employed.

The object of this invention is to avoid the reversal of the curvature and thus prevent any possibility of difiiculty in the handling of the sheets at that point, and it consists simply in starting the sheets from the folding rolls in a curved condition and keeping them in the same curved condition throughout their course to the fan. The radius of curvature may change but not its direction. In other words if the sheets are curved in a concave shape when they leave the rolls they are'kept in a concave condition throughout their course until the fan is about to deliver them, and all the advantages of the above mentioned patent are thus secured without any possibility of trouble during the feeding of the sheets from the rolls to the fan due to the reversal of the curvature.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying-drawing in which the figure is an elevation of a fan delivery constructed in accordance with this invention.

The invention is shown as arranged for taking folded bundles of sheets from a pair of folding rolls 1O constituting part of a web printing press. The sheets or bundles can be taken from any kind of forwarding mechanism. In this case the emerging forward end of the bundle of sheets engages a concave guide 20 which bends down the oncoming end of the sheet into what we call concave condition. A supporting guide 21 is shown below and parallel with the guide 20. This receives the sheets and limits the radius of their curvature, and at the same time maintains them in the concave condition. These guides 20 and 21 preferably are made up of a series of parallel spaced bars either continuous or not. As the sheets pass along the surface of this guide 21 they eventually come to what may be called the end of it where the tangent would be vertical. Although the radius of curvature of the sheets may change during their progress it does not reverse.

Although the guide is shown-as extending beyond this point, the fan blades 28, which project into the spaces between the guide bars, receive the dropping end of the bundles of sheets before the same reach this point and thereafter control them. The tendency of the curved fan-blade is to continue the curvature across the sheet in the same direction in -which it has been running, that is, to keep it always in concave shape.. This now being limited by the guide 21 which extends down below the fan, the

fan finally delivers the sheets on the delivassume a horizontal condition just as they drop on the delivery belts.

In this way it will be seen that the space between the fan blades and the guide is substantially the same throughout and the sheets are kept in the same curved form all the time, and yet all the advantages of the above mentioned patent can be obtained without involving any danger of reduction of the speed of operation due. to changing the curvature of the sheets while they pass from the folding rolls tothe fan.

Although we have illustrated and described only a single form of the invention, we are aware of the fact that modifications can be made therein by any person skilled in the art without departing from the scope of the invention as expressed in the claims. Therefore we do not wish to be limited to all the details of construction herein shown and described but what we do claim is- 1. In a sheet delivery mechanisem, the combination with a folding device and a sheet laying fan, of means for engaging the sheets as they come from the folding device and curving them, and means for maintaining that curvature all the way from the folding device to the fan so that the moving sheet or bundle will be prevented from buckling longitudinally.

2, The combination with a folding device and a sheet laying fan, of a pathway for directing the sheets from the folding device to the fan, said pathway being of a convex form on the side adjacent to the sheets at its receiving and discharge points.

3. The combination with a folding device and a sheet laying device, of a pathway for directing the sheets from one to the other, said pathway having a continuous curvature throu hout its operative part.

4. The combination with a pair of folding rolls and-a rotary sheet laying fan, of'a guide for directing the sheets from the rolls to the fan, said guide being of a continuous convex form on the side adjacent to the sheets, and arranged to release the sheets to the fan substantially at a point along its curved surface at which it assumes a verti cal direction.

5. In a device for delivering'sheets from a pair of folding rolls, the combination of a guide of convex form on the side adjacent to the sheets, and a guide parallel with the first named guide for intially bending the ends of the sheets toward the first named guide as they come from the rolls, said guides constituting means for preventing the sheets being bent in the opposite direction.

6. In a device for delivering sheets from a pair of folding rolls, the combination with the folding rolls and a guide for directing the sheets from the rolls to the fan, said guide being of a continuous convex form on the side adjacent to the sheets, and a guide parallel with the first named guide for initially bending the ends of the sheets toward the first named guide as they come from the rolls.

7. The combination with a rotary sheet laying fan, of a guide for directing the sheets to the fan, said guide being of a concave form on the side adjacent to the sheets and substantially concentric with the center of rotation of the fan for initially positively bending the sheets toward the fan.

8. The combination of a rotary sheet laying fan and means for directing sheets thereto along a curved course continuously convex and substantially concentric with the fan throughout substantially its whole length.

9. A rotary sheet laying fan having blades provided with operative ends, each arranged on the arc of a circle substantially concentric with the center of the fan.

10. The combination with a rotary sheet laying fan, of a guide for directing the sheets to the fan, said guide being of a convex form on the side adjacent to the sheets, the blades of the fan and the lower part of said guide being substantially concentric.

11. The comblnation of a rotary sheet laying fan having blades, and means for guiding sheets tothe fan, said blades having operative ends arranged on the arc of a circle substantially concentric with the center of rotation of the fan, said means having a portion concentric with said ends.

12. The method of delivering sheets which consists in giving the forward end of a sheet a curvature across the sheet and maintaining that curvature throughout its travel from a position in which it is positively gripped to a position in which it is engaged and controlled by a sheet laying .In testimony whereof we have hereunto affixed our signatures.

HENRY A. WISE WOOD. ALBERT 1E. FAY. 

